6 Reasons why the Terminator sequels all suck

Dr Zaius

Chief Defender of the Faith
May 1, 2001
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The Forbidden Zone
First name
llUnited States
The new Terminator movie has arrived and, surprise, surprise, it apparently stinks .This isn't rocket science, folks. It really shouldn't be that hard to make a worthy sequel...IF you bother to actually watch the original film and think about what sets it apart from the dreadful chain of half-baked sequels.

The problem here isn't that all the good ideas have already been used up, or lack of budget, or any of that other nonsense. It's Hollywood's complete inability to grasp what made the original film so engaging and different than the typical mush churned out by executives more interested in making money than good films.

The fact is, the sequels are really nothing like the original movie except in a few loosely-related plot elements. Here's why.

  1. In the original, there is a lot of tension because the primary victim is a young, innocent woman who is ALONE. She doesn't understand what's going on and has no idea how to defend herself.
  2. Hand in hand with #1, the audience also doesn't fully understand what's going on. We're given just enough information to keep us engaged, but through much of the movie we're left guessing who the good guys are and why all this is happening. Only by the end of the film have we learned the true story. In an earlier era, that's what used to be referred to a "storytelling." Nifty, eh?
  3. The original movie is dark, gritty, and decidedly stark and unrefined. It's filmed in a sort of low-budget method that gets the point across in a no-nonsense, almost narrative manner. It isn't great cinematography, the shots aren't smooth, and the camera doesn't swoop in from above like modern CGI-fueled films. In fact, with the exception of the terminator itself, the special effects are almost non-existent. It looks gritty and real because 99 percent of it IS real.
  4. There are no kids in the original. No bratty cousins, daughters, sons, brothers, aunts or annoying husbands or step fathers. Grandma doesn't show up to share her wisdom with us, there's no witty banter, no snarky jibes, and no inside jokes referencing events in earlier films. In fact, there's nothing remotely funny in this movie at all. Just the grim, relentless reality of a heartless killing machine stalking a terrified young woman who just wants to survive the night.
  5. There is fear for the audience because there is fear in the characters. Sarah Connor is afraid, alone, or surrounded by people she doesn't know or whom she is afraid of. In the sequels, the characters are mostly superhuman heroes with the skills of a Navy SEAL and the poise of a mafia hitman. The characters in these sequels are strong and they're meant to make the audience feel strong. In contrast, the characters in the original film are weak and vulnerable and so they make us feel weak and vulnerable. Even the "strong" characters we meet are easy prey for the terminator, which only serves to reinforce our sense of impending doom and helplessness.
  6. The original movie was pitiless and unforgiving. Within the first five minutes of the film we witness multiple gruesome murders. Nothing sets the initial tone of a film like a human heart being ripped out. In short, it's a film that was made by adults for an adult audience. It was not made to be stuck on the side of a kids lunchbox or so they could sells action figures at Toys 'R Us. Compared to most other films, the Terminator is a harsh, brooding, and unsympathetic films that spares the audience nothing. The terminator itself is not emotional and casually executes a suburban mother in front of her playing children. It was not a movie that Hollywood would make today because it's too dark, it doesn't end on a happy note, the characters are not beautiful models and teenagers, and the whole thing is actually sort of slow and plodding, punctuated by scenes of brutal violence. At the time, The Terminator was an indie film from an unknown director, and he hadn't yet been sucked into the corporate mindset of the film industry. Instead, he was young enough and foolish enough to make the movie he wanted and tell the story as it should be, rather than purposely script a story to maximize profits.
For crying out loud, let's get back to making serious movies. Please.